Things I never said before
by cckia27
Summary: Paige arrived at the cliff. What does Walter want to tell her? Is this a goodbye? This story takes place in 1x22 Postcards from the edge and it sums up what I'd like it happens in the episode (even if I don't think it will) with a twist at the end, inspired by a comment on tumblr on what could happen at the end of the episode. WAIGE.
1. Chapter 1

Paige never ran that fast before and when she approached the cliff only Toby and Sylvester kept her from going down there. She saw his car in precarious balance few feet down the hill they were upon.

"Walter!" she shouted and struggled as Toby tried to calm her down "Do something!" she pleaded the man out of breath.

"We're doing everything we can… Paige, now you need to calm down and listening to me carefully" Toby looked straight in her eyes grasping her shoulder. She nodded "Good. Walter wants to talk to you… so now I'm giving you this phone" said the shrink grabbing her hand and placing the device right in her palm. "Call him. Sylvester and I will give you some privacy and stay few steps away to keep the situation under control while Happy, Cabe and everyone else gets prepared to bring him up. Okay?" she nodded again.

In that moment her eyes started watering when stared down at the phone and she didn't felt like talking. "Walter?" her voice cracked and her hand was shaking.

He didn't respond so she tried to call his name again, louder this time.  
She was relieved to finally hear his voice through the phone even if he sounded scared "Paige? Is that you?". From the cliff the young woman saw his head turning slowly in her direction, however they were too far apart to be able to take a better look at each other. If he moved too much or too quickly the vehicle would have lost grip and fell in the open space below.

"Yes! Walter, please hang on… okay?" she couldn't stop the tears from falling down the cheeks and tried her best to dry them before anyone could see them. "They'll get you out of there in a matter of time. Listen to me… I'm not leaving you, not like this."

"You have a lovely voice" he whispered.

Paige took a deep breath "Toby told me everything and he explained what happened… and… and the emotional state you are in this moment..."

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Walter didn't know exactly how he felt on an emotional state, his very low EQ didn't allow him to fully understand it. He could recognize anger, fear and pain…. Physical or emotional who knows?! He felt clueless and he was certain of one thing, he wanted it all to stop. Paige was still talking but the genius wasn't paying much attention to her words, however he was mostly focuses on the tone of her voice.  
_You have a lovely voice _he didn't even realize he spoke in a soft whisper. He wanted to tell her so many things when he asked Toby to find her and now he was empty, just like someone erased all the data in his brain.

"… he told me that you are overcompensating. The sudden lost trust in Cabe and me telling you that…" he heard that Paige was taking a deep breath. In the meantime he was already rewinding that exchange of the previous night knowing what she was talking about, if not _that_ was else?

"_My son almost died because he wants to be you." He had never seen her so desperate._

_Walter felt tears in his eyes but refused to cry "It's so awful being me? Being around me?" he meant more with that last statement. More like 'being in love with me', but he wouldn't never say it out loud. They were talking about Ralph after all._

"_I just don't want him to become you!" she shouted. And then he felt his heart broke, or he imagined it to feel like that at least. He was sure of one thing: it did hurt._

Paige continued "…that I didn't want Ralph to-".

"-become _me_" he finished it for her.  
However she wanted to explain why she said such things and Walter decided to not interrupt her anymore.

"I want you to understand that I was scared and I said things I never really meant. Remember when I told you about the greater good?" she was walking up and down without paying much attention to the surroundings and Sly and Toby where right behind her, making sure she didn't take a step in the wrong direction. "You were right… I brought it out in the first place, but then… when Ralph pulled out that stunt to save all of us he told me the exact same thing, that he made it for the greater good and he used some other words you and the guys told him in the morning and…. and" she throw her arms in the air. " I'm his mother, Walter." She concluded.

The young genius was still in his seat paying attention to the words of the woman he was in love with (yes he finally admitted it to himself). Her reasons were legitimated. He had time to think about it all night long and came to the conclusion that he couldn't blame her for being scared to lose her son. If he paid more attention to the boy, being 'the grown up' in the room, he wouldn't never encourage him to do something like that. "Paige I don't deny to fact that I'm responsible for e-everything that happened to Ralph… I know and I'm s-sorry" he told her. "I didn't expect your words to be …s-so painful. Perhaps it's all connected… Baghdad and Cabe and then Ralph… _you_ leaving". He was struggling to express it all at once and yet he kept trying "I never experienced something …like… this… before" he almost found it hard to breath.

"Walter, I-"

"No" he interrupted the young woman and shook his head. "Let me finish. I-I wanted to hear y-you and …see you" he looked to see her silhouette above the cliff "but mostly because I wanted to tell you… mmm… I came to your apartment last week to t-talk to you about …everything"

Paige bit her bottom lip and pressed the phone on her ear. Deep inside she knew what he was going to say with that _everything_ and she embraced herself waiting for the genius to spell it out for her. "But?" she encourage him.

"But-Drew-was-there-and-I-never-made-it-to-the-door" he said in one breath.

"What did you want to tell me, Walt?" her voice was calm and sweet.

He waited for the courage to come, he didn't have anything left to lose anyway.

"I love you" he said and immediately ended the call. _Right there_, he said it out loud and he couldn't never take it back. Maybe he should have waited for a reply or a comment. He remembered what Toby told him about their connection and its increasing over time, but the truth was that he feared a rejection. He was afraid his love wasn't reciprocated.

"Walter?!" she heard the line going down. _No, no!_ She thought. She wanted to tell him she loved him too but he just hanged up. Right behind her a voice shouted that they were ready to take out Walter from his car.

The next few minutes passed so fast as Happy operated to help a determined Cabe climbing down the cliff; he was attached to a rope. He argued a little with Walter, obviously, but took him out of the car the moment it fell down the hill. They lost balance and smashed against the terrain, but the old agent never let go of Walter's arm. They managed to bring him on solid ground then Toby and other paramedics checked his condition. The genius was injured on his left side and apparently he hit his head on the terrain as he presented sign of concussion.  
Paige approached them, let herself fall on the knees and leaned down to face Walter. She cupped his face while he was clearly struggling to keep his eyes open while he tried to grab her arms as if he feared to ver see her again. She closed the gap between them and stamped a light kiss on his lips; the gang of geniuses, plus Cabe, raised their eyebrows in sync, taken aback by her sudden move. She couldn't care less what they though.

Walter felt her soft lips on his. His heart was beating fast and hoped she could hear it too. The genius was losing awareness of the situation around him and he was fainting but didn't want to let go yet. For a brief moment he managed to slowly deepen the kiss before passing out completely.

**SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS**

He woke up at the hospital. It took him a while before he could see clearly all the stuff around him. He was attached to various tubes and he smelled flowers then he saw a bouquet of yellow and red orchids. He asked himself how long he'd been asleep as he tried to reach the last memories he had in his mind. Walter turned the head to see that _she_ was grabbing his hand and he looked puzzled at it thinking how comfortable was the touch of her skin on his. He involuntarily squeezed it causing her to meet his gaze.

"Walter!" with a note of surprise and relief she caught him off guard and hugged him for a long moment.

Paige was happy he woke up so soon. She even brought a bouquet of flowers to perfume the ambient and make it smell less hospital and more home, because the last time she spoke with the doctor he couldn't tell how much time the patience needed to regain consciousness. Paige held Walter in a warm embrace and she was actually surprised when he didn't flinch or freeze at the contact. She wanted to tell him how much he scared her back there or how Ralph convinced her to stay or, again, how much important he was in her life. Everything seemed so easy for Paige now that she knew he loved her back. Thus, she leaned back and rested on the bed beside him. She couldn't help but smiling all the time.

"I'm calling everyone!" she exclaimed, pulling out the phone from her pocket and placed it on the blanket. "But first I wanted to tell you that I lo-"

"Wait…" Walter looked lost in her eyes and swallowed "Who… who's Walter?"

Paige suddenly felt heavy on the mattress and smile faded from her lips. _He didn't remember who he was._

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**_A/N Thank for reading this story... please review! _**


	2. Chapter 2

Walter was observing the man with the black hat lying on the couch in the garage, reading two books at the same time. He had lots of questions in his mind and no matter how hard he tried to concentrated there was no success at all. The genius wanted to ask him how could be possible that he didn't remember anything and yet he could solve problems that normal people weren't able too. He knew that hit his head against rocks or something and doctors diagnosed a trauma originated by that and by the recent events that obviously everyone was trying to avoid in those days. His memories were suppressed by the emotional stress he experienced and his brain was blocking them all out. Yet he needed to know, otherwise how the hell was he supposed to regain his memory?  
There was a question, however, that puzzled him even more.

"Are you going to tell me what are you thinking or you were just admiring my hotness?" Walter jumped at the statement and Toby looked up studying Walter's behavior.

"I don't like when you do that"

"Starling you?" Toby smirked making Walter feel even more uncomfortable.

"Reading me".

The shrink wasn't used to the new Walter yet. He cursed himself for that stupid joke and the fact that he was indeed reading him. His friend was more calm and shy, his ego was barely existing anymore and he constantly had that look in his eyes: confusion. He was struggling to figure out who the hell he was and it was painful for Toby to watch.

"I wanted to ask you something" Walter said shyly.

"Fire away" the behaviorist crossed his arms waiting for the question. Walter turned briefly searching for something behind him or, maybe, he only wanted to be sure that nobody was listening. There was anyone else in there anyway.

"Well…" he scratched his forehead and took a step toward a very interested Toby "Is there anything… mmm… between m-me and Paige?"

Toby raised his eyes "Wow! Walter O'Brien would _never_ ask me something like that!"

"O-okay" he lowered his gaze, shoved his hand in the pants and turn to leave.

Toby regret it already. "Hey! Walt…" he ran forward to grab his arm.

_Hang on son… I'm not letting you fall… Just hang on!_

Those words… the noise of something metal crushing down. Walter panicked.  
He shake off the hand that was grabbing his arm with a rough movement and looked at Toby with eyes wide open. He saw his lips moving but he couldn't hear him as he the other voice kept echoing in his mind. Was that a memory of the accident?

"Hello guys!" Paige walking in the garage in the same moment. Walter looked briefly in her direction and then ran away, up in his loft. The young woman stood on the doorstep with a marking question on her face while Toby put a hand on his chest trying to explain his idiocy "It's all my fault. I inadvertently trigged something in his mind. Perhaps he began to remember something."

Paige added "Do you think it's time to tell him what happened? We only told him past events and what he really need to get his memory back is knowing everything including… _those_ events".

"Yes, of course. But we need to be careful too and tell him few things at time because his emotional state is still unstable and I fear his reaction… might be unpredictable. He has an IQ of 197 and no matter how many times I heard him claim he has no emotions I always knew they were inside him ready to show themselves to the world." Paige was listening agreeing with every word Toby was saying "Take you for example… you brought out emotions from him, you increased his EQ. Since you're around he's less robot and more human"

"Toby… it's because of me that he exploded because he cannot process emotions like normal people and see how he is now!" Paige pushed back the tears not wanting Toby to see her weak.

"You're the best thing that ever happen to him!" the genius words punched her in the stomach. "You and Ralph. Things can be fixed and no matter what you did, in the end, you came back… now you're here. That's all that matter"

"I'm not sure-"

"Come on Paige!" Toby raised his voice. Then covered his mouth with a hand and looked up to the stairs. "He needs you even if he didn't realize it yet. He even asked me if you two, well… you know"

Paige raised an eyebrow and asked herself if she misheard what Toby just told her. "What?!" Apparently even if Walter didn't remember he still felt something for her and that warmed her heart. "I'll…talk to him" she said and walked toward the stairs.

Outside the sun already went down. "See you tomorrow then. And remember few thing at time." Toby told her and left.

**SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS**

Paige had no idea where to start. Walter didn't remember his name and he didn't even recognize his sister Megan who was furious at Cabe, at her. The sister told her that she understood why Paige act that way, taking Ralph away, because the first reaction of a mother was to protect her son. But that didn't stop Megan to blame her and the old agent to be the reason of his brother situation.  
Happy, Toby and Sylvester tried anything that came to their mind to help Walter remember but nothing ever worked so they decided to take him home after two and made sure to never leave him alone in case he needed anything. Tonight was her turn and while Ralph was sleeping a Sylvester's apartment Paige was watching over Walter.

He went to bed right after he walked in the loft and shut it down. Walter could feel her presence in the room as he heard her to slowly open the door. He picked one eye open to spy on her and when she met his look he shut his eye close. She grinned.

"You don't have to pretend to sleep to avoid me. You can simply told me that you don't want to talk".

He opened his eyes but avoided her gaze looking in the opposite direction; she let out a sigh and went near his bed. Paige didn't know if he would have found appropriate her sitting on it, but she already did it once at the hospital and he didn't bother that much.

She was inches away from him. "How do you feel?" he met gaze but was still silence.

The genius was studying her "Who are you?" noticing the confusion on her face he quickly added "to me".

Paige couldn't find the right words since every events he told him until that moment was very vague. She explained that he was her boss and that he gave her the job when they stopped an emergency at LA airport. She told him about Ralph and the connection the two of them had, and also the fact that everyone considered her "the glue" of the team. The glue gone bad that left the team and made him drive at high speed and crushing down a hill…. How much she wanted to tell him that she loved him… And then there was his admission... His love was so genuine that her heart melted…

"It's not a difficult question" Walter interrupted her thoughts and he noticed she looked hesitant, and guilty too. Yet there was something important she wanted to tell him but couldn't. "Is it that bad?" it was all he could think about. Nobody wanted to tell him anything about the week before the accident and he found it frustrating.

"Okay. You don't have to tell m-" his fingers involuntarily brushed against hers and he sensed something inside his chest, and for a moment he imagined to see fire around him. He sit up on the bed and crushed his back against the wall. He was hyperventilating.

"Take a deep breath, Walter… it's alright." Paige spoke softly trying her best to calm him down without touching him and God, she really wanted to touch him, hug him and stay like that forever. All she could think about was that she wanted _her _Walter back.

"I'm fine" he lied and she knew it. He couldn't get out of his mind the images of flames and smoke and he felt like suffocating, then he saw her face; she was there with him. Walter was prone to ask Paige what that meant because there were no doubts that she started it all, the contact with her skin was the reason of his panic attack.  
They remained silent for a while and he had time to remember a case that Sly talked about; a rescue in the forest and there was fire indeed. Maybe that was a memory too, just like the voice in his head that kept telling him to hang on.

Paige was looking at his dark eyes so intensely that he thought she might burn his skull, then he felt breathless even if he was certain that it wasn't because of some deprivation of oxygen but something else entirely. The pulsation of his heart was increasing each second passed, but it was something he couldn't comprehend so he did anything but avoiding her gaze.  
The genius noticed that more than once she tried to reach his hand or arm, but stopped every time maybe fearing of another bad reaction. Every time someone tried to make physical contact with him something happened, something was triggering his mind and he didn't like the sensation.

"Well, what do you say if we get some sleep?" she gave him small smile. "I'll be there on the couch if you need anything" she pointed a hand toward the couch in the loft as she decided to sleep there instead of using the one downstairs. It was way more comfortable and she would have stayed nearer Walter to be able to hear if he had any nightmares or needed anything.  
Paige walked around the bed and went for the couch but first she turned one last time "Goodnight Walter".

Her face was a mix of emotions he couldn't decipher and for a unknown reason words slept out of his mouth before he could even stop them "I want you to stay". She stood there puzzled "I mean… I know you're staying, but-but I'd like you to be nearer" he was blushing.

"Are you sure?" she asked tentatively. She dreamed to sleep next to him, but never she would have imagined him to actually tell her so.

On the other side Walter was looking at her noticing happiness all over her face. It felt so right, plus she was calming him down so with no hesitation he answered her. "Yes".

A flood of images started floating in his mind. Other memories? This time at least seemed to be a good one.

_She was wearing a black dress that was leaving her back naked and all of her curves were breathtaking.  
"Is this ok?" she spoke as she spun on her heels.  
"Yes!" He firmly answered. She looked simply beautiful, how could he answer otherwise?  
Then he imagined to touch her as he heard her voice saying 'lower…lower', or maybe he actually did it since the touch of his hand on her bare and soft skin seemed very real._

Paige brought him back to reality "Do you really intend to make me sleep in your bed?".

"There is enough space for both of us and I don't see why I should let you sleep on a couch".

"You hate physical contact and… you confirmed that few minutes ago." with both hands were on her hips she looked a little preoccupied.

"I had a memory, actually… two." Walter explained it "The first was triggered by the contact of my fingers on yours and that made me remember something… probably happened during the case of the rescue of those lost hikers." He paused. "We were surrounded by fire and I guess we made contact in that moment… I-I remember looking at you… And the second memory, well… that was about a black dress you were wearing probably for a Gala or something… similar" He searched for her eyes and saw they were glossy like she was trying not to cry.

Paige was happy but she also wanted to let the tears formed in her eyes falling down free. He was starting to remember and she knew that the next thing Walter would have asked her was an explanation for the accident and what really caused it.

"Do you remember something else? Perhaps something about me, Ralph or-or the team… Cabe?"

"No. I thought you could help me figure out the meaning of those little fragments of memories I have"

She sat down on the bed. "Of course I will" she smiled at him and hugged him. Walter was taken aback as he startled a little, _wasn't he uncomfortable with touches… why she did that?_ He asked himself immediately but then, feeling good and safe in that position, he relaxed in her embrace and wrapped his arm around her and leaned his head on her shoulder.

"I remember something else… about the crash". Paige froze and a shiver ran through her spine. She feared it was something really bad, but she didn't move from their embrace. "I keep hearing this voice… Cabe's voice, I'm sure, telling me to hold on". She let out a breath of relief and pulled back to face him.

"He was grabbing your good arm and trying to not lose his grasp when the car crashed down the hill and you were suspended in air with only a rope to hold you up."

"Would you like to tell me everything that happened that day?" his eyes begged her but she knew he had to be patient and wait the right moment.

"First things first. Now we go to sleep then tomorrow we'll talk about it with everyone. Okay?"

"Do you promise?" He wasn't convinced.

"Yes" she answered softly.

Walter wasn't convinced yet but decided to let it go as she promised him some answers the next morning.  
They prepared to sleep and once they were in bed they both made sure to put an appropriate distance between them. An hour later Walter couldn't fall asleep and turned to Paige side to find her sleeping peacefully. He wanted so bad to remember who he was that he couldn't wait anymore; suddenly the young genius realized that he needed to know her, his friends and her family… Megan as soon as possible. Her sister was a strong woman and for the few interactions they recently had he could only imagine how important they were for each other. All this was frustrating at no end.  
Walter brushed her cheek with his palm and suddenly Paige grabbed his hand in her sleep. She rubbed it a little and then returned the hand on the blankets to its initial position.

"I love you too…" she whispered in her dreams "….Walter".

The genius felt his eyes burning and he almost cried if it wasn't for a mix of emotion who took over his body and mind: fear, anger and… love?

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**A/N: thank you all for the reviews and wow how many followers and favorite for a first chapter! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and... well, _to be continued..._**


	3. Chapter 3

_I'd like to thank you all for following this story and keep reading it. I didn't expect to have so many followers and favorites! And thanks for all the reviews too.  
DD brought to my attention my spelling errors in the previous chapters so I reviewed them and corrected them. If you noticed anything else just write them to me; I like critics and no matter if they're good or bad, they makes me grow and improve.  
Enjoy this new chapter!_

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_I love you too… Walter._

Her voice was a mantra in his mind and those words never let him sleep. The genius didn't really know what to think anymore because, if he were already confused before, now it was even worse. He decided to go to the roof to clear his thoughts. It was past midnight and LA with those thousands of lights that illuminated the dark sky made it look like the Milky Way Galaxy. Walter closed his eyes to feel the relaxing breeze on his skin but he actually thought that he couldn't figure out what to do of all those mixed emotions that haunted him. Then a void took place inside of him and all of the sudden he felt alone.  
He looked up at the stars_. I enjoy the stars_, that he knew… _And Ralph does too_.  
He spent the rest of the night pondering over any kind of stuff, mostly about Paige. He was weirdly attracted to her and finally he knew why, or at least he though he did. Walter would have confronted her in few hours, but first he needed something else.

Answers, he needed _answers_.

**SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS**

"So, were do I start?" Cabe talked to himself. They were all sat together for a memory session just as Paige promised.

"Perhaps from the beginning?" An impatient Walter incited the old agent sat on the opposite side of the table. He was starving for answers to his many questions.  
Cabe made eye contact with Toby for an agreement and they both nodded to each other. The sign didn't go unnoticed by Walter and wrecked anger on his bones but he couldn't explain it. He jumped out of his seat and snapped.

"What now?!" the tone of his voice frighten everybody. It was the last thing they could have ever expected. "What was that?" he accused Cabe and the shrink "that nod… did you agree on what is _safe_ to tell me and what is not?" Then he turned to Paige "I said I wanted to know everything and _you_ promised! Is it so painful say it out loud? What am I…. a serial killer?"

"Walt, you've got this all wrong. We cannot overload your brain with too many things at once" Toby interrupted his rant standing up too taking a step toward him and when he caught his full attention he continued "yes, we agreed on which facts it should have been better starting with. You don't remember anything and if you want us to help you regain your memories lost all we need you to do is being patient. Even if it's never been your strongest suit… I'm a doctor, I know how people mind works".

They waited what it felt to be an eternity, Sly was constantly avoid eye contact with Walter fearing he might get upset him too. Happy was sat on a chair legs crossed playing with a wrench while Paige was focused on the behavior of Walter waiting for whatever was coming next.

"Say something, Walter" Cabe spoke as no one else did.

_Say something_, he already heard that words before but the genius couldn't place them in his empty timeline of his damned life. Toby was right, but still he wanted, no… he needed to know everything already.

"I don't care!" he shouted and left the room slamming the door of the garage.

"Paige?" Toby turned his gaze once Walter was out of sight and faced he confused and concerned "What did you tell him last night?"

"Nothing, I swear. I haven't told him anything that could make him act like that. I have no clue on why he's so irascible." She answered. "He wanted to know everything about the crash and he told me heard your voice" Paige looked at Cabe "and I told him we would have talk about it today… He also told me he remembered two moment of our past cases, the paint stolen and the hikers lost in the forest. But nothing that important." She bit her tongue.

Paige didn't want them to know that Walter remembered those silly little things happened between them and she would have talk about that to Toby in private about it anyway.

"I'll go talk to him" she said walking toward the door.

**SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS**

Walter was walking up and down the street near the garage wall. He was confused and frustrated and the situation didn't help much. He didn't understand why he acted like that, something repressed in his brain snapped and now being unable to comprehend his own behavior was driving him crazy.  
When he heard the door opening he automatically turn to see who he or she was.  
Obviously that person was Paige. He felt his heart clench from her confession that slept out of her lips the night before; she was asleep but he was certain that the young woman was dreaming of him and she just talked out loud.  
Those words still burned hard in his chest and something told him it was a rare emotion he was experiencing, as he came to know that his low EQ was the cause of his confusion. He didn't feel emotions like anybody else because his IQ was that high to suppress any human connection or feelings that normal people would have felt. However, in that moment, he didn't really believe in it.  
The genius tried his best to avoid her gaze when she approached him.

"Walter what's going on?" her tone was preoccupied.

"I don't know... I can't explain"

"Try me" she insisted.

He just didn't know. But he realize it wasn't an efficient explanation to provide and the woman standing in front of him would have kept pushing him until he said something more. He scratches his forehead and tried to put in words his current state.

"I feel angry and scared... and I don't know why. It began when Cabe started talking and then his voice reminded me of something I cannot place in time or space. I cannot comprehend it".

She closed the gap between them "Let him talk to you and then I'm sure that you'll figure out the reason why you feel these emotions".

"Do you know what it is?" he whispered. Having Paige so near, that he could feel her breath on his neck, he wasn't functioning anymore.

"Yes," she gave him a smile "but trust me. It's better if you let Cabe talks because the right words and voice will help your brain remember it". Paige couldn't bring herself to tell him it might be painful, and she felt guilty, but he was already emotionally compromised and in that moment she even doubted he was ready to hear that story yet.

"Thank you" Walter shook her from her thoughts.

"For what?"

"For being here". He wanted to tell her something else entirely but his brain corrected him leading him to say those exact words.

They didn't move from their positions for a long moment and they were standing so close that it almost felt awkward, well... _almost._

_**SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS**_

Walter sat down again. "I'm sorry I snapped, I don't know what got into me".

_I do know,_ Toby though. His friend subconscious was telling him to be angry because it was exactly how he felt the last time Cabe talked to him, even when the old agent pulled him out of the car. Walter manifested a constant distrust in the man that once he considered a surrogate father.

"No need to apologize, son" Cabe stated "do you remember when I told you about the software you developed for the Government years ago?"

"Sure. You talked about it last week while we were consuming a meal on the roof up here".

Paige was fascinated by how his brain was working. He had no clue on who he was and yet he was so Walter. He was getting back to normal. The trio of geniuses noticed that too as Happy leaned forward on her chair, Sylvester tilted up his lips and Toby suppressed a grin.

"I helped you to built a device when I was a kid thinking it served for something completely different from the real purpose. Bombs were dropped in Baghdad and two thousands of civilians died. Distrust came right after I found out the truth and since then I cut any contacts with you. After sixteen years you came back to make amends". He continued telling him that he was supposed to remember it because it was a very important factor in his life that lead him to trust no one for a long time but he still didn't.  
Then he asked: "Does it have anything to do with the accident? I was driving a car not using a computer so the only logical explanation is that it has indeed something to do with those events".

"And you're right... it has much to do with those events" Cabe answered him and measured every word he was going to say next "I lied to you. I told you I didn't know about the real purpose of the mission but the Director of Homeland actually updated me three days before those bombs were dropped." Toby was disappointed when he saw that Walter didn't flinch at those words. He bet he would have remember it but apparently he was wrong.

"We've been called on a case. An hacker threatened to kill a bunch of scientists taken hostages in a security lab. All because he wanted revenge on the deaths in Baghdad. So I told you the truth and... you didn't take it well. You basically didn't want to see me ever again and this is one of the reasons you acted fearless, took the Ferrari and drove at high speed off the cliff on LA hills".

Walter's mind was racing trying to piece together all the informations he received but none of them seemed to be helpful. He bit his lower lip and kept thinking about it.

"Do you know the cause of the crash?" he asked.

"No... only you know that" Sly replied hesitant.

"Does any of this caused your memory to return?" Toby kept reading his behavior waiting for him to make a move who could tell him he was regaining his memory.  
Walter simply shook his head. Then Cabe spoke again.

"Trust me, son. You nee..." Walter turned his gaze to the old man and, just like it happened with Toby the day before, he didn't hear anything else. He saw only a pair of lips moving with no sound.

He had a flash. _Trust me... trust us... trust. _

"Walter?" Paige was concerned and Toby raised his eyebrows "you look shocked"

"Do you remember ..._it_?" Happy asked him tentatively.

"No. I... I thought I saw something... but no. It just faded away".

He lied. He remember it vividly, but just that. Him yelling to Cabe to shut up and shouting that he shouldn't had the right to say to somebody to trust him ever again... Asking the Director to remove him from Team Scorpion, then... all faded to black. He didn't realize he started panicking and fell down until he found himself on the floor with Toby leaning forward to keep his head up and Paige telling him to calm down.

"Why do I feel like these... _things_? I don't want to feel. Make them stop! I don't want to feel any of this." his eyes started watering but he refused to let the tears falling down.

Paige grabbed his shoulder but he tried to pull away from that touch then he struggled a while before surrendering to her hug; Walter was tired. She slowly brought his head on her chest while brushing his hair.  
He fell asleep with stained tears on is cheek but she made sure no one noticed. Paige understood how Walter would have felt to show himself even more vulnerable that he already was to his rediscovered family.  
The team was left when Cabe received a call for a new case and after a while Paige managed to wake him up to bring him to bed even if he didn't want to move.

"Don't leave me, please... Paige don't leave me". The young man repeated it many times while he was half asleep.

She was thinking _what will happen when I tell him my side of the story? When I told him that he never wanted for Ralph to become him... would he remember what he told me on that cliff, that he forgave me because he understood and respected my decision?_

_**SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS**_

Walter was at ease in her embrace and as much he wanted to pull away he never did it because he felt safe. Then _that _mantra came back to haunt his mind once again.  
He decided to break the hug to look at her eyes. Paige was watching his every move while he sat beside her cleaning his face fast and adjusted his position on the cold floor.

"Do you want to talk about it?" her voice echoed in the empty room. He shook his head.

Walter visibly wanted to tell her something so she laid her hands on her waist and waited. His gaze was truly intense and Paige was enraptured by those deep glossy eyes, then he broke the silence.

"Are you in love with me?" he slowly asked. "You talked in your dreams last night and... you said that to me".

He left her speechless once again.  
Paige needed to explain it without confusing him and in order to do that he needed to know what happened the day before the accident. However if he reacted so bad to Cabe speech he wouldn't react any better to her side of the story; he wasn't simply ready yet.  
The young woman analyzed how to give him a satisfying answer so she took a deep breath and started talking.

* * *

**A/N: I love cliffhangers... they keeps people wanting for more. So I wish you're interested to know what coming next. Hope you enjoyed and please keep reviewing these chapters. It mean a lot to me!**


	4. Chapter 4

_I planned to upload the new chapter tomorrow but since many of you asked to update soon I decided to give you the new chapter earlier._

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_Paige left her shoes falling beside her and laid on the sand, looking at the sunset on the calm ocean and listening to the noise of the waves crushing on the shore. Walter was staring at her in awe; she could feel his stare so she turned to meet his eyes, then he cupped her face slowly sending shivers through her entire body. She smiled and, thinking about the words he said few minutes before, she covered his hand rubbing it gently and replied "I love you too... Walter"._

Paige remembered that dream vividly like any other dreams she made about him. The only thing she would have never expected to happen was her actually saying those words out loud, or in a whisper or... whatever. All that mattered was that Walter knew, he heard her and now he was waiting for her to speak.

The young woman took a moment to reflect on his question, _How can I give him a good answer now? _She didn't know.

"It's... complicated." she started.

"Is it?" he immediately replied confused. Walter had no clue where that conversation might lead to, but he wanted so bad to have an explanation. It would have solved the mysterious void in his stomach he was feeling every time she was around.

"Yes. I mean... we are not a couple. We are friends". She nervously stretched her fingers and avoid his stare for a brief moment.

"Oh! So I wasn't supposed to know how you feel about me" he felt guilty for even brought that up. He surely had no memory, but it was like he already knew that it wasn't so good at these kind of things. He was experiencing a mix of emotions, lots of those, but he couldn't comprehend any of them.

"No, it's not that. We actually k-kissed. _I _kissed you... Ok..." _this is getting awkward,_ Paige thought and continued "...let's just say that nothing really happened between us and-".

Her phone started ringing. Paige stood up and she didn't realize that she was holding her breath until she let out a sigh of relief. She hated the situation. Paige pulled her phone out of the bag. It was the alarm she set to remind her to go pick up Ralph from school and she turned it off.  
With all that happened in those days setting alarms was a very useful way to keep everything in check.

Walter looked her as she stared down at her phone while his mind was far away, trying to remember something about that kiss, but he wasn't surprise that it was a blank space. He went to the bathroom and stared at his face in the mirror. _Who am I?_  
Paige spoke but he wasn't listening. He remembered few things till that moment and they were mostly about her, about Baghdad and Cabe, he was angry at the old man and he was now afraid of what he could find out later on, since so far he didn't react very well to all the stuff they told him.

"Walter? I need to go pick up Ralph at school and you need to come with me". She was on the doorstep and he kept staring at the mirror.

"Why? Don't you trust me to stay here alone?" those questions surprised Paige a little. The tone of his voice was exhausted tho.

"I do trust you. I just want you to take a ride and see familiar places. Staying in here won't help your memory to come back and hopefully you'll recognize something else on the ride. What do you think?" she was smiling and he saw her lips curved up through the mirror. He decided to let go of his stubbornness for a while and take a leap of faith out of that woman instead.

"Fine. Let's go".

**SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS**

She was right. Stuff came back to his mind, things were starting to piece together after four days he remembered many other things of his past and his friends. Megan was really happy at the idea of getting her brother back to normal even if it would have take a while for him remember every sigle detail of his life. He knew who he was and where he came from, and that was a big goal for him; he remembered memories of sister, then he recall those times they went to the beach and the that one time the team saved a boy's life trapped underwater, it was Christmas.  
His dissipated relationship with Cabe was slowly regain its lost form. Even if Walter was still far from trust him again the way he did before, they were at ease. The old agent knew that the young genius needed more time, but he was content that he agreed to not push him away recognizing that he acted to protect him.

One day the genius found a box with stuff inside of it.

"_Hey that's mine!" exclaimed Toby and pulled off Walter's hand a poker-fish. He stared incredulous at the object "You kept it all this time. Mr 197, you are a sentimental"_

"_No I'm not!" he replied offended then thought over it changing his mind "well, maybe I don't recall being a sentimental by the way"_

_Sly intervened "He has something about all of us and that's a good think because they can be useful to remember how we met and... ok. But I don't want to share with everyone my past. We may do it in private"_

"_Good. I wouldn't like to share either." Happy said._

_Paige watched the geniuses stunned and confused while Cabe wasn't so much surprised knowing their histories. The young mother took a step toward Walter sat at his desk and try to look inside of the box "And what do you have about me?"._

"_Nothing." Toby said. There was nothing about Paige in that box and Walter was perplexed. He met her gaze and she looked disappointed. _

"_Maybe I misplaced it." she wasn't convinced and went in the kitchen to fill the cup with hot coffee._

"_You don't misplace things Walt" the shrink whispered to make sure Paige wouldn't hear it._

_Then some images flashed in his mind. "I didn't put it in yet, it's up in the loft and I know exactly where it is." he raised from the chair and walked to the staircase. Paige was still hurt, but curiosity took the best of her and she follows._

_Walter didn't think twice and opened the first drawer of his wardrobe; it was there.  
He grabbed the object and turn it to see the front side and as he remembered there was her name on it._

"_You kept my name tag from my job at the diner?" Paige was standing right behind him and her words made him smile._

"_Yes. You were a waitress there and I saw you there sometimes when I was with my ex. Then... one day I broke up with her while a was on a job." he paused perplexed then he recalled "to be more efficient."_

"_Of course... And I'm not even surprised" she said raising the eyebrows and crossing her arms._

"_Janice... She told me that she knew I was trying but I still was miles away from normal. Then when I was fixing the internet connection I saw you touching Ralph's shoulder and he rejected it. I knew from that moment he was a genius... like me."._

_Paige was listening to him amazed._

"_I told the owner to not yell at the boy and I told you he needed help. And yes now I recall all the events of that day, fast car driving through LA, airport ride under a plane and a job offer from Cabe"._

_She was silent and Walter stood there watching her and knowing why he was so attracted by her. Paige was a strong woman and a very good mom. He was impressed that day and he was still impressed now._

"_Do you also remember everything else?" she suddenly broke the silence._

"_No, only the events of that day. But now I remember about Happy, Toby and Sylvester and they're right... better not talk about them in front of everyone" he chuckled and she smiled. For so long she waited to hear him laugh again "As people say... the past belong to the past"._

Walter was satisfied with his progress and the only thing that pressed him more than any other was the half explanation that Paige gave him about their relationship. She said they were friends but yet she talked in her dreams saying to be in love with him. She said nothing happened between them and yet they kissed. He was utterly confused, but neither of them had the courage to bring back the argument to conclude it. He took a sip of the coffee that he prepared in the spare time and watched over his friends working on a case of robbery in downtown. Soon he would have been back at work too.

**SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS**

The team wouldn't let him participate to the action on the cases so he always stayed back at the garage even if he found it boring. Eighteen days after the accident his memory wasn't so empty anymore. He was making progress faster than the doctors, and Toby, anticipated and it was a good thing. It meant his brain worked very well and there weren't long term damages. However he still couldn't recall the day of the accident and Paige told him he probably missed a piece that could make him remember it once for all; so she promised that right after the case they were currently working on, they would have talked about it.

Team Scorpion was out to catch a lawyer that in his double life was a boss who made extra money with a covered organization of human trafficking. He never get caught because there wasn't any kind of evidence that could prove his implication in the felony. Walter hacked into his many accounts and, with Toby and Cabe's help, he managed to find some good proof to finally incriminate him.

Sly was there too, not to keep an eye on him, but just because he wasn't needed on the field.

"Walter, I have to confess you something that you probably don't remember yet and..." Sly was avoiding eye contact knowing that the first time he told him about his relationship with Megan wasn't exactly the best time.

"Perhaps... that you and my sister are a couple?" Walter was cleaning the table ready to prepare a new experiment to share with Ralph once he came back from school. He didn't stop his doings and Sly was taken aback "You know?!" he asked incredulous.

"Of course, I remember every single detail of my life up to the events before the accident. Didn't I told you?" He put down the dirty rag on the table and looked up.

"You didn't say everything, you said most of it. It's not the same thing."

"That's correct. Now I remember 99% of my life. So _most_ of it is the best form to explain it".

A smile appeared on the lips of the human calculator who hurried to say "So we're good!"

"Not exactly. I still not agree on you dating my sister for obvious reasons that you already know, but that won't change the fact that you're my best friend and I want you both to be happy as long as you can". His words might be harsh but they were true and Sly was content with it.

The door slid open in that very moment. It was Drew.

"Is Paige here?" he asked them.

"No, but she'll be back in few minutes." Walter replied the man studying his every move. He didn't like the guy and that wasn't a secret and Drew wasn't pleased to see him either. They never talked after he went to Portland months before and the last time Walter saw him was through the window of Paige's apartment. The genius quickly pushed away those images from him mind.

"Then I'll wait here." the ex baseball player walked toward them and sat down on the couch.

Sly excused himself telling that he needed the restroom, but he just wanted to avoid the tension fallen in the garage.

Walter and Drew stared at each other for a while. The genius wasn't uncomfortable at his presence but when he started talking something moved inside of him.

"I thought that Paige said that she never wanted our son to became you. But looks like she changed her mind".

What was he talking about? He didn't remember any of those words coming from her mouth, but they felt real, like a memory not only an imagination.  
He was ready to reply when the team came through the door, Drew smirked at him and then left after he had a little talk with Paige. After he was gone she asked him if his ex told him something that bothered him because he surely looked like it, but he simply shook his head and excuse himself to go get some sleep, even if it was only 2 pm. He probably imagined to feel those words familiar and pushed them away from his thoughts. The next day he would have talk to Paige and everything would have been explained, now he just needed to be alone.

**SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS**

It was two days that Walter was sleeping alone at night and was dreaming peacefully but suddenly he began seeing and hearing things in his head...

"_Hang on son... keep hanging on!"_

_He was driving fast in the darkness... curve after curve... he was feeling desperate as he shouted more than once behind the wheel._

_Paige was standing in front of him. Words were floating in the air. They were fighting._

"_Is it so awful being me?" His voice echoed in his ears._

"_I appreciate everything you've done for us"_

_Then again he was in his car, wet in his car teetering on a cliff it was day..._

_...at night. "Is it so awful being me? Being around me?"..._

_..."My son nearly died because he wants to be you"..._

_He made another curve in the dark ...a coyote ran on the street... he stirred to his left to prevent to hit the animal... he crashed down as the car tilted few times..._

"_Is it so awful being me? Being around me?" ..."I JUST DON'T WANT HIM TO BECOME YOU!"._

He jumped awake in his bed. He was hearing a scream and recognized it to be his own voice only after few seconds. He was screaming and crying, wet in his own bed. He was shaking so badly and couldn't stop hearing Paige's voice in his head and those images kept flashing in front of his eyes. Walter wanted them to stop but he just couldn't. He covered his head with both hands and tried to calm himself down and repeating himself to breath and breath... and breath.

"What the hell is going on?" his shaky voice was the only sound in the silent night.

* * *

_**A/N: I'm not sure if I'll be able to update this story before the season finale... in any case let's brace ourselves!**_


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: the finale was awesome! Too bad we have to wait five months for season 2._  
_Thank you for the reviews on this story and wow! How many followers! _  
_Enjoy..._

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That morning Paige was anxious for the talk she would have with Walter in a matter of minutes and was also preoccupied for him since the young woman sensed that something was off. Paige assumed that it was probably relate to Drew and once she parked her car she walked to the door pushing it open. "Hello? Walter?" she walked in looking for him. Probably he was occupied with some of his experiment or with the rocket and he didn't hear her. Once she verified no one was in the garage she climbed the stairs to the loft. It was empty and his bed was made, but there were few pieces of paper scattered on the blanket.  
Paige was curious to know what he wrote, surely some math stuff she didn't understand; she leaned to grab the first piece of paper but a voice behind her startled her.

"Paige I didn't hear you came in."

She turned and smile at him placing a hand on her chest. "You almost scared me, I saw those papers on your bed… I didn't want to meddling into your things." She immediately put the paper down feeling like a child caught with in the act of stealing from a candy jar.

"I don't mind. They're just thoughts" he shrugged watching past her.

"Oh, I didn't know you need to write them down. Do have problem remembering stuff?" she asked preoccupied.

"N-no. No! …I just wanted to try another approach to these things. You know, like normal people do and see if it works" he said putting away those pieces of paper in one shelf while Paige studied his behavior. He was distracted and she suddenly felt the need to know what he wrote.

"Does it?" she asked.

"You came here to talk. So… let's do it." He deflected the argument hiding his hands in the back pockets and walking toward his computer. She sat on the couch and giving a sign to sit beside her, but he declined leaning against the table "I'll stay here".

He was putting distance between them and she was disappointed, almost hurt.

"Listen, whatever Drew told you yesterday was a lie. He tried to get in your head and pissed you off"

"Did he? Why? He wasn't so hostile when he left to go to Portland. I haven't seeing him since then. Have I?" he shifted position favoring his left leg. He never let anyone see his injuries from the accident except for Toby so it was the first time Paige noticed that. Walter was suffering of headache because of his head injury but beside that she knew he had bruised here and there, nothing so serious.

"No, you didn't. And he is hostile because I decided to stay here in LA after I told him otherwise. He blames you because he thinks you are the reason I changed my mind… Now come here". She tried again and even if Walter was hesitant at first he then relaxed and walked to the couch but he wasn't limping. Walter took place beside her, merely inches away.

"Am I?" he whispered avoiding her gaze.

Paige wanted to say yes, and it was one of the reasons she had but something was holding her back "Ralph convinced me. He made me realize that here he has friends who cared about him and related to.".

Walter didn't say anything, his mind were somewhere else and her voice was miles away. He was rewinding his dream for the fiftieth time.

"Okay. Let's start from the beginning… you said the last thing you remember is coming back at the garage the night of the accident." Her voice was a sweet melody and when he realized she was waiting for a confirmation he answered.

"Yes. I was searching for some files that Cabe left here and I put them all in a box."

"Perfect. Well,… I arrived when you and the guys were downstairs. Happy was talking to you saying that it wasn't a good thing you throw Cabe off the team." She paused as her heart started racing fast preparing for what would have come after. "And then I asked you to move aside to talk. I told you that for Ralph safety I decided to move to Maine with him. Obviously you didn't take it well and we fought." He was looking through her but Paige couldn't read his expression "I said things I shouldn't never said such as you weren't a good influence for my son and…. that _I didn't want him to… become you_. In that moment all I could think was to put distance between everything that happened from here because it was the right thing to do… but I also didn't want to because I…"

She didn't finished she just stopped mid-sentence unable to continue as her mind brought her to that cliff thinking that if he died there the last memory of them would have been a fight, _that_ fight.

Walter's nightmare came to life as she spoke, it was right there in front of his eyes. He realize it was real and painful, and that mix of emotions he experienced that night was there inside of him, once again, and couldn't control them. He was there, he could feel the air her was breathing. Then everything else came back too; the incident, his words, hers… Cabe saving his life and then her kiss. That kiss he asked about and dreamed a few times but until that moment he couldn't made a place out of it.

"Do you remember?" she ask tentatively.

Walter understood why she didn't want to tell him before. He knew she wanted to forget it as bad as he would, she was probably scared of his reaction. He was too.

"No. I cannot visualize what you just said." He lied breathless. "But I imagine how I would have reacted… like a dumb-"

"Stop it. It's my fault" she interrupt him abruptly "You took your car and drive off a cliff because you were upset… because Cabe and I told you things that hit you hard on an emotional level and knowing your low level of EQ, you just lost it. I'd have reacted the same way… I shouldn't have talk to you like that, I could have chosen different words and-".

Walter grabbed her hand to catch her attention and stop her causing Paige to open her eyes wide, she didn't expect it. "You said you wanted the best for Ralph and he risked his life to help the team that day. Don't blame yourself for something I did. I shouldn't have encourage him telling him those things, he's only ten. I'm the one who took the keys and drove to that cliff, I'm the one responsible for what happened. It's my fault if I hurt myself… not yours." He didn't let go of her hand but never looked her in the eyes either.

Paige was relieved. Walter couldn't bring himself to tell her that he remembered it all because part of him told him he was angry, the other told him otherwise. Suddenly he realized he wasn't angry because she left or for what she told, he already got over it when he was in on that cliff. No, he was pissed because she didn't tell him the whole truth immediately. He felt betrayed and maybe he was overreacting but the void that he was feeling in his stomach returned. Paige was making him feel so vulnerable and weak.  
The young woman cupped his cheek to take a better look at him. "Don't you remember it for real? What about the crush?".

"Nothing. But that maybe it's better to leave it for another day." he faked a smile. He lied, he just wanted to forget.

She was confused of his change of attitude. He wanted so bad to know what happened to him and now he didn't care that much anymore. It didn't make sense.

"Oh! What a perfect couple!" neither of them heard Toby walk in the room and they both jumped on their seats pulling away from each other. "Sorry to interrupt you, but we have a case. So if you may honor us of your presence we can start."

Walter stood up and left with no words.

"Is he in a bad mood?" the shrink asked Paige still sat on the couch.

"I told him."

**SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS**

_He was numb. He couldn't place things together and those missing pieces were driving crazy. His mind was playing tricks with his memories. In any circumstances Paige would ever say those things and he calmed himself telling himself it was only a nightmare.  
However, since he couldn't sleep anymore, he wrote down everything he saw in the dream. There was no need to do so but the genius did it anyway and transferred those images from his brain to the paper; maybe it would have helped him to free his mind, but he hardly believe it himself._

Walter looked back at the shelf where he put that papers that remind him of the night_._ He refused to go out on the new case despite Cabe propose to go with them this time. He needed space.  
An hour later he found himself in front of Megan's room at the hospital.

"Hey little bro! What are you doing here?" she greeted him.

"I wasn't planning on coming here. I was just walking."

"You walk from home?!" she was shocked. "Are you okay?"

He hesitated and took a look around the room "No." Walter avoided her sister stare. He wasn't okay and he didn't know what to do. Finally he regained his memory and somehow he wanted to forget.

"People keep lying to me". He leaned on the doorstep watching outside the window.

Megan grabbed her crutches and slowly walked toward him, once she was standing in front of him forced his brother to face her. "Look at me, Walter." His eyes were a mask of pain "Walter, they're trying to help you go through it. I don't like any of what happened to you, we already talk about it. But you need to get past-"

"Did you know?" Walter met her gaze. He was such a mess.

"They told me, yes. I'm your sister for God's sake! … Anyway I also agreed that you needed time to acquire all the information necessary to refill your memory. Doctors advise us to not push your brain too hard."

"But they kept me away from the most important piece, you did! You have no idea what it felt like to not know why the accident actually happened. I figured that I was angry but… I didn't expect it to be so awful. I never experienced so many emotions at the same time, I just wanted it all to stop".

"Did you talk to Paige?"

"I did and she told me what happened before I drove away that night, the fight we had. But I told her I don't remember it nor what happened next."

"But you do" it wasn't a question, Megan just knew or Walter wouldn't be there talking like that.

"You're conflicted. And you're blaming her for what happen-"

"No. Not for that… she lied to me!"

"Well, now you lied to her too!". It was true. He kept blaming his newly founded feelings for her to be the reason of all he was going through but he didn't realize he did the same thing she did, something he hated so much, lying and keeping secrets.

Megan grabbed his hand and lead him to the bar at the end of the hall.

"Do you want coffee?" she asked when they arrived but he shook his head. "Fine, let's sit here".

They sat on an horrible couch, but at least it was comfortable.

"Listen to me Walter, like I already said you're conflicted. You don't realize what you're going through because you don't understand emotions and that's not fair, anyone should not be able to comprehend himself. You're a genius, an exception and I wouldn't ever want you to change. Do you see why they kept you in the dark? How would you react if the guys would have told you everything all at once?"

She continued telling him how much they cared about him and that they would never hurt him "Paige would never hurt you, Walter. She loves you…"

Walter was carefully listen to her words memorizing everything and analyzing every possibility and variable. He came to the conclusion that she was right about it, he needed time to assimilate every information. He didn't even remember who he was, how could he possibly expected otherwise. It was logical, he didn't think logical, actually he didn't use his brain at all. His judgment was clouded by feelings and he didn't like the sensation they left him. He replayed in his mind the talk with Cabe, every single one about Baghdad. He made the decision to protect him lying and at the time he was too stubborn to understand that he would have never try to hurt him. Cabe cared about him just like a father would care about their children and somehow Walter managed to fill the loss of his daughter. He should be thankful to have him beside him, he should be thankful to have a family who cared about him, Scorpion. And Paige… his life changed the moment he met her. He told her _I love you_ when he thought he was about to die.

"Thank you" he said with a note of shame on his face. Megan lighted up and kiss him on the cheek. "There's a place I need to be". He added.

**SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS**

"Where is Walter?" Sly was panicking.

"He probably went for a walk, do-not-worry potato head! He's fine." Toby replied patted his friend shoulder eyeing Paige to see her reaction. She bit her bottom lip and went upstairs saying no word.

Paige was in his loft, she was looking for those papers that Walter put away. She found them exactly where she expected and thought that fortunately he didn't move them. When he refused to go with them she knew something was off, that even if Walter reassured her that he didn't blame deep inside, Paige was almost sure he was. Or maybe it had to do with those pieces of paper he was writing on. She grabbed them from the shelf, leaned on the edge of his bed and started reading. They weren't graphics or numbers but a flow of words put together, words repeated few times, some of them underlined and others in block capitals.  
In that very moment Paige realized that Walter lied to her and she was definitely hurt.

"What are you doing?" Walter was in front of her and she could read fear in his eyes, she never saw so many emotions from Walter O'Brien than the last couple of weeks, but she was still upset. She let the papers falling from her hands on the carpet and went near him.  
Paige slapped him hard on the face, twice.

* * *

**_A/N: don't worry... it's coming to an end. Next chapter.  
And as always... TO BE CONTINUED._**


	6. Chapter 6

_We're coming to an end... I wish this last chapter satisfy you. Thanks for the beautiful reviews on every chapter and I'd like to mention Emma (since I cannot reply to you in any other way than here): You're right! Good point, in fact this chapter has a resolution._

* * *

"_What are you doing?" Walter was in front of her and she could read fear in his eyes, she never saw so many emotions from Walter O'Brien than the last couple of weeks, but she was still upset. She let the papers falling from her hands on the carpet and went near him.  
Paige slapped him hard on the face, twice..._

"What did you said you remembered from what I told you... uh?" she asked lowering her voice trying to contain herself from harm him again, and when he didn't answer she slapped him again. "Nothing! You said you didn't remember anything!" she was yelling.

Paige needed to go away as soon as possible, but he grabbed her wrist and turned her to face him.

"You weren't supposed to read it."

"Really?! Didn't you told me you didn't bother if I did this morning?" she struggled but he didn't let go.

"Because when I told you I thought it was just a nightmare"

"You should have told me, Walter! I spent the last couple of weeks taking care of you, to support you… and you lie to my face?" she was still shouting and her eyes was starting to get glossy "Let go of me!"

He didn't. "I didn't know if it was real or not! I wanted to believe it was only a nightmare. I wanted to believe it was only a bad dream because it if it was real then it would hurt too much. You hurt me and I cannot prevent myself from feeling it over and over again".

Paige was quiet at that point.

"You're not supposed to be angry at me! You behold informations for weeks and I beg you to tell me everything... How should I supposed to feel then?" his voice was raising.

"Walter..."

"No. Don't you dare to talk." pain was written all over his face, he let go of her wrist and took few steps back. "I came back here to talk to you, to tell you how much you m-mean to me... that it-it isn't your fault, you're not the cause of my accident… a stupid coyote was!" He was crying and tears kept falling free on his cheeks. He felt his eyes burning.

"Walt-"

"I remember telling you that I l-love you" she tried to get closer but he pushed himself back even more "but I came to realize that maybe _I don't_... I hate you".

Paige felt her heart broken, _he didn't mean it he's just mad because I lashed out, _she tried to tell herself as he stormed off.

**SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS**

Walter was running fast, his mind full of thoughts he wanted to forget. He came to the point he didn't even see where he was going for the amount of tears in his eyes and he had to stop himself from being hitting by a car. His breath was short preventing him to scream out the pain he felt in that moment. How could he be so stupid? He shouldn't never told her the L word in the first place.

He couldn't comprehend the reason why she was so mad at him, but he knew it hurt very much and he didn't want to feel any of that anymore in his life. Walter heard the words of his sister jumping in his head: _she loves you. _No, she didn't and that was the only logical explanation he could think about.  
When he finally arrived on his favorite spot at the beach he sat down and ran his fingers in the sand drawing circles around him.

He stayed like that for two hours, now the sun was going down reflecting its form on the surface of the ocean and the sky was a mix of bright red and blue. He wanted to appreciate it but that wasn't him, he always seen thing only from a logical point of view and emotions weren't an option he'd ever consider. He was conflicted but at least he was calming down.

"Can I talk to you... for a moment?" Walter heard _her _voice at his back but he didn't flinch. Paige was so quiet that he didn't hear her presence until she spoke. "Please, Walter I-"

"Go away. I don't want to see you... ever again" the calm inside him was gone once again.

"Walter, I want you to listen to me just few minutes. Then you decide if you want me gone f-forever or not." the genius heard her voice shaking but he told himself that he didn't care.

"You have two minutes." he waited looking furrowed at the horizon.

"I'll be _efficient_ then." Embracing herself she stepped closer to him, not too much "I'm sorry I lashed out... You were right when you said I had no rights to be mad at you. I-I was because I care about you, Walter. I care about you very much and the fact that you lied to me betrayed... humm... whatever. What I want you to know is that I feel the same for you". Back at the loft when he ran out she realized that he remembered everything and there wasn't any reason to pretend or hide her feelings anymore. "I know you're an emotional wreck right now but... are you up for a social experiment?" she ask tentatively trying not to push him too hard and leaned on the sand few inches away from him.

Still furrowed, Walter turned his head slowly to face her and the exact moment he saw her red eyes and shadows of tears shed on her cheeks he felt something inside that he couldn't explain. It seemed like everything that happened before was a long lost memory of a distant past.

"I know what you're doing" he replied not noticing how is voice was deep and calm. But he figured that he overreacted before, just like she did and both of them were regretting their actions.  
Paige bit her bottom lip and waited. They waited for one another to do something, a sign, a gesture that gave the other the chance to react, pure physic Walter thought. Then she spoke softly.

"I don't blame you to be upset," she knew how he would react to emotions and she understood that he needed space, but Paige still wanted to clear things once for all "but I need you to know that ...I love you too".

"Don't say it if you don't mean it" he shot.

"I do." she was opening up to him and felt it wasn't inappropriate anymore since he felt the same way.

Walter hesitated but never left her gaze and when she smiled at him his heart melted "What about that social experiment?"

"Maybe it not the time" she looked away praying he didn't notice her blush.

"Paige..." he asked to look at her and when she did his lips were on hers. A little chaste kiss but long enough to make them both forget everything else. "I think I need time to process everything but... but I wish you will wait and don't give up... on me". He added.

Paige grabbed his hands and laced their fingers together, then leaned her head on his shoulder "What do you say... No more secrets?"

"Mmm" Walter replied freezing at her contact.

"Walter? Is there something I need to know?" she question the genius confused. He raised his eyebrows and mumbled.

"Maybe a few...".

**SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS**

The next morning Happy was building a new mechanical object for a project at her table and when Paige and Ralph arrived she asked her if Walter and her were good. The young mother told Ralph he could play with Proton Arnold until it was time to leave for school and he ran happily to in front of the game. Then Paige turned to Happy to answer her question.

"Yeah, we argued a little but we found a positive solution"

"Good" she simply replied but a half smile and half grin was stamped on the genius lips "So, now you are..."

"No!" Paige blushed at what Happy was implying "Walter and I decided to not rush things... actually I came earlier to talk with him about few things left unsaid"

"Oh. Okay." Happy wasn't convinced by her answer but she was interrupted by Toby coming out of nowhere asking for Mr. 197.

"Where is that smartypants? Oh, Paige I thought you slept here last night" said with a grin on his face.

"She didn't" Walter was right behind him and spoke in his ear causing the shrink to jump on his feet.

"Geez Walter! You scared me". Toby pretended to be offended, but clearly failed.

"Not that it takes more than that to scare you anyway" Happy provoked him keeping her eyes on the project she was working on.

Paige giggled and Walter smiled while Toby and Happy argued about stuff, like always.

"They love each other" Paige said but Walter glared at her confused.

The young mother didn't had the chance to speak with Walter privately at this point and left to bring Ralph to school.  
Later when she came back, Sly and Cabe were arrived and, since there wasn't a new case to work on, they all spent the morning adjusting stuff, signing papers, cleaning the place and starting other stuff again.

Walter was staring at a white board on the calmer side of the garage when Paige approached him.

"What is it?" she asked and Walter immediately grabbed the board and hid it under a grey cloth.

"Nothing... hum... Toby draw it months ago. It's-" he stopped as he saw Paige eyes confused and sad. After all they said to not keep any secrets between them anymore. "Ok. He made a chart on our 'connection'... and... how that increased over time, but I erased it".

She closed the gap between them and moved the cloth from the drawing left in a corner of the board. "And you _missed_ this?" She finally took a good look at it. It was two stick figures, she recognized to be them, surrounded by a red heart. Now her own heart was racing knowing that the genius who refuse to surrender to his own emotion was unable to erase a simple drawing.

"Toby still think to be five years old" he attempted a smile but froze when she briefly caressed his cheek and then pinch it lightly.

"Oh, that I know!" and with that she covered the board again and walked away but stopped when she realize something "Walter? The drawing... has it anything to do with our talk?"

"The one we still didn't have?" he answer with another question but she waited for a real answer. "Maybe".

Paige walked closer to him again. "I'm listening" she said curious.

"Well..." Walter brushed his hair nervous choosing the right words to explain it "Toby noticed I didn't remove the drawing from the board and questioned my action saying that, while I didn't want him and Happy to be in a relationship because it could have hurt the company with inefficient results, I was doing the same thing with you. Meaning developing feeling... for y-you."

"Was he right?" she was standing dangerously closer and even if they agreed to keep figuratively distance she couldn't help but be nearer him as possible.

"I... maybe", Walter could feel her breath on his skin, that woman was the end of him.

"And?" she encourage him to keep talking.

"Well, he convinced me to go to your apartment..."

"But Drew was there and you just left." she concluded "You told me when you were on the cliff".

"I did. But you didn't know what pushed me to go see you. Now you do". His brain told him to take a step back but the proximity was growing comfortable so he stayed waiting for her to say something definitive that would have concluded their chat.

"And the other stuff?" Of course, he told her that there were few things.

"Mmm" he mumbled. He slid his hand in his pants and walked around the garage "Remember when we were on the case of the stolen painting? We went to the house of the art collector, Jaques Lebeau, to find the real painting."

"I remember, what about it?" Paige replied sitting on a couch nearby and Walter kept talking avoiding her eyes.

"We danced... and we used a device that I voluntary reset it to be, um, to be able to dance with you more time but unfortunately I didn't calculated that Lebeau would ask you to dance with him instead"

"Oh. That's why you insistently asked Sylvester how much time was left" she talked more to herself .

Paige watched how Walter was uncomfortable with that revelation, he must have be jealous of the man who stole her from that dance. Then she realized that he was developing feelings for her long before she expected. His eyes were glued to the floor and refused to look up when Paige was standing in front of him. He felt ashamed like never before, it was a silly thing but it meant so much to him that he never imagine it to have such effect. Dancing with Paige involved physical contact and he wasn't used to it, anyway it just felt very good and relaxing, he even made a joke of geniuses brain.

"Do you have any secrets to share with me?" Walter suddenly asked and she was taken aback "like that dream you made when we shared my bed"

Paige was red and could feel her face burning in shame but instead of change subject she decided to turn the tables "I had plenty of those actually, but I prefer to share them in another way... when you will be ready of course". It was his turn to turn bright red and he regretted even asking for it.

The young woman kissed him an a cheek and left with a grin on her face. Walter, instead, stood there few minutes like an idiot staring at the empty spot previously occupied by Paige.

"Earth calls Walter!" Cabe call him four times already. "Are you okay?" he asked once Walter joined the guys.

"I'm fine. Just lost in thoughts" he replied.

"I bet you were, Miss Dineen was over the moon when she left. Mmm, and be careful Walt, your emotions are showing... what could she possibly told you to prevent you to function anymore?" Toby pointed out and Happy rolled her eyes.

"Ah, okay" Walter was still lost in thoughts, Toby noticed and chuckled. "Cabe, I didn't thank you yet for that stunt you made on the cliff. Thank you for saving my life".

"I would do it again, maybe without causing you to lose your memory, but I'd prefer it to be the last time I have to save your butt". The old agent told him serious.

"Wait a minute... so now you remember everything?" Sly asked Walter trying to contain his happiness.

"Yes buddy, I do" Walter said with a genuine smile.

"Cool. Now, Walt what is that ' mother nature' thing that make you go off the cliff?" Happy leaned on the table beside her.

"A coyote... and as I told you before wild animals are unpredictables"

"Poor coyote you almost killed him" Toby added but shut his mouth when he felt four pair of eyes deadly glaring at him "Forget what I just said. It's good to have you back, pal" he concluded.

"Okay guys. Let's go eat something... I'm starving" Cabe proposed and everyone agreed.

**SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS**

When Walter returned to the garage at 10.07 pm he found the light on and he was even more surprised to see a familiar face waiting for him.

"What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you?" Paige replied standing up from the couch "For a moment I thought you would never come back"

"I was out with the guys and... if you're here where's Ralph?" he asked preoccupied.

"Don't worry, he's staying with Drew for the weekend" She said softly then she grabbed his hand and lead him up to the loft. She placed candles everywhere and the atmosphere was, well, Walter was tempted to use the word intimate.  
Only then he noticed she was wearing a black dress, short, but still beautiful.

"What are we doing?" he asked under his breath without tearing away his eyes from her curves. He was dangerously attracted and basically he forgot how to function.

"Another social experiment?" Paige laughed nervous but then she gained confidence and pressed the play button on the keyboard of his computer. The music started playing and he recognized it to be the same they were dancing on that time at the fancy party.  
She walked up to him and with a quick gesture she fixed his tie and adjusted some folds formed on his shirt stretching it out a little. Then she looked straight in the eyes of a speechless Walter.

"May I have this dance?" she whispered.

"Yes" the genius agreed faster than she could ever imagined and with the widest smile on her face she bring him at the center of the loft. Paige didn't need to show him what to do, he was already in position and she get even closer leaving no space between them. Walter was shivering of what he could figured being excitement and he didn't want to stop feeling that emotion.  
He felt her heart racing and she felt the same about him, they danced for a long time in silence.

"What do you think about this _experiment_?" Paige whispered in his ear after a while.

"I love hearing you voice in my ear... I love dancing with you". Walter whispered back while she started crying.  
"Me too" she concluded.

They danced all night long and neither of them wanted to stop. It would have been a long road but it seemed brighter than ever and that was enough. They loved each other and in that moment was all they cared about.

* * *

_**A/N: Thank you for reading this story and I wish you enjoyed... leave a comment on the review section, let me know what you think about it! **_


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